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Order of the Silvery Steppe
The Order of the Silvery Steppe is an offshoot of Dorism. For more on Dorism, see Dor. Organization and Influence The Order of the Silvery Steppe is a small but powerful localized religious organization based in southeast Doelle, though the largest and most influential cluster of the Order live just over the border that Doelle shares with Talvia. The group holds immense power in the economic and political sectors, a fact that the Order does not dispute. The heads of the group maintain, however, that their presence in local government does not necessarily have to do with their faith. The mayor's office of Silveston is known to employ a number of members of the Order, for example, and the town's toll bridge is a holding of the group. Notable members include renowned land baron Martin Martiin, famous duelist Raynil Darregas, and others. History In 789, a blacksmith named Atrinus Valeer entered a Temple of All Gods and began preaching to the priests and passersby therein. He told them that the night prior, he had experienced a vision of "A great, silvery staircase, one that climbed high, higher than I could even perceive, beyond the light of day and beyond the edge of our sky. Standing on it, I perceived that Dor, the Formless One, the Wild God, was but a few steps away. He beckoned to me, and I answered him in a voice that was not my own 'I will take your faithful and unbind them, and restore the tenets of your good way!' and hearing this, I perceived that he blessed me." Around this time, Atrinus left his work as a blacksmith and began recruiting members to join him on his wealthy, dying father's estate a few miles outside Silveston. Atrinus demonstrated the work of Dor in his life not through powerful magic, but through a simple message of free, almost wild living. Many members of the newly formed Commuinity of Men for Community with Dor worked their jobs as normal, but took their earnings and pooled them, selling their homes to live on the estate The following years saw the group grow from around twenty to over one hundred members, many of whom were wealthy businessmen who expressed resentment for the lifestyle into which they felt coerced from birth. The Order continued to purchase properties around Silveston and the Doelle-Talvia border for decades until Atrinus' death in 811. Basic Tenets The Order of the Silver Steppe's tenets are made clear through their writings, the transcribed messages of Atrinus Valeer, and some of their unique practices. 1.) "Man has forgotten that He is a free creature.". We must live freely to pursue that which we love with all our spirit and body. 2.) "Man is a peaceable creature, though he has forgotten." We must endeavor to make peace with those around us, even they from our past and present life who would do us harm. 3.) "Man is a loving creature; this he has remembered." We must endeavor to love freely to all for whom we share love. We must not bind ourselves with the law, for love does not need the prod of the law. 4.) "Man is a selfish creature; this we must forget." In our time on this world we have grown cold and selfish. This is not how we were meant to be. We must endeavor to give freely to each other as a testament to Dor's goodness. Controversy and Dissent In 802, a pair of students of the Silveston Library of Culture gained access to the Order's estate by posing as initiates. Over the course of five weeks, they reported "Several newer members were led around on leashes, dressed scantily and treated as lowly slaves. When I asked another member, they told me that it was 'an exercise in humility, that by becoming slaves, they might learn to yearn for their freedom.'" another report included details of "Instances of one man and one woman being found guilty of sharing too much love with one another, so the Order's heads would take each of them away and force them to lie with six or seven other people before returning to one another." When these reports reached the streets of SIlveston, a full-scale raid was attempted on the estate by families of the members, but they were thwarted by the mayor's office and the local governor. Years later, both of these offices were found to be held members of the Order at the time, but by then, the group had spread beyond the Talvian border into Doelle, where they continue the bulk of their lifestyle and operations to this day. Attacks on members of the Order of the Silvery Steppe are rarely met with success due to the group's tendency to influence local politics and secure the assistance of the town guard. A handful of murders and disappearances have occurred over the decades, but virtually no arrests have ever been made in these cases, although they are almost always solved due the the outpouring of support from the police. In many cases, the perpetrators are discovered to be missing by the time the case goes to trial. In 828, the town of New Rockham was shocked to find that the Order of the Silvery Steppe's community building on the outskirts of town had been burned down. Upon investigating, the town guard found seventeen bodies. All were found to have wounds from a battleaxe. The case remains the greatest and perhaps only successful attack on a Silvery Steppe community, and remains open.